Cupcakes Business: Packaging, Sales, Etc.

[Kim Shook]

Someone Mr. Kim works with is going to ask me about making her some cupcakes. I am not a pro and would be doing someone a favor, but I wouldn't mind making a little money also. What range makes sense for a home cook to charge for cupcakes? I am in Richmond, VA, if that helps!

[etalanian]

A lot depends on what kind of cupcakes you are making. From scratch? From a mix? Chocolate, plain, fancy? What kind of frosting - buttercream, American butter frosting, creamed crisco?

How many are you making? If you're making a large quantity, do you have a 6-quart mixer so you can double a batch of batter?

Eileen

[Rebecca263]

In an ideal world, the perfect cupcake is a huge one, made with cake flour and real flavorings and butter, covered in French buttercream. Charge at least 2 dollars for one of THOSE. I'll pay the shipping too.

[etalanian]

I agree! Real butter, dark chocolate, no crisco or mixes.

Eileen

[Kim Shook]

Yep, the real deal! But probably the middle size rather than the large ones. I am trying to start the cupcake craze in Richmond, but we are slow and southern down here and suspicious of Yankee trends ! Maybe $2 for complicated ones and $1.50 for simple ones?

[Rebecca263]

I'm an East Coast girl, but I think that you can get those prices easily. I've happily paid more 4 dollars for a decent cupcake, and it wasn't one of those oversugared 'boutique' type products, and I'm not a fancy pants, either. Well, OK, I AM a fancy pants, but not the monied type!

[stscam]

In an ideal world, the perfect cupcake is a huge one, made with cake flour and real flavorings and butter, covered in French buttercream. Charge at least 2 dollars for one of THOSE. I'll pay the shipping too.

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It seems to me that if it's a big cupcake made from scratch with real ingredients and premium flavorings and topped with a French buttercream, then $2.00 is dirt cheap and probably not profitable to the baker. For such an item I think $3.00-3.50 is more reasonable, though customers may not see it that way.

So where can you cut costs without sacrificing quality? There must be a middle ground somewhere. I note that New York's Magnolia Bakery frosts their cupcakes with an uncooked "Simple Buttercream," using all butter in lieu of shortening. A slightly less expensive approach would be to do 2/3 butter - 1/3 shortening.

Anybody have any thoughts?

Cheers,

Steve

[Rebecca263]

In my humble cupcake producing opinion, Magnolia makes a far too sugary, cloyingly sweet buttercream, and their cupcakes tend to be mushy as well. Making a decent home made cupcake that I described costs me about 80 cents a piece, so 2 bucks seemed pretty good to me. But what do I know, I use cheap butter and raw sugar, I'm just a home cook, not a pro!

[prasantrin]

Yep, the real deal!  But probably the middle size rather than the large ones.  I am trying to start the cupcake craze in Richmond, but we are slow and southern down here and suspicious of Yankee trends  !  Maybe $2 for complicated ones and $1.50 for simple ones?

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Hmmm....if it's your first job (contract?) and you're not really licensed to do baking out of your home for profit, I probably wouldn't even charge that much, especially if you're doing it as a favour. I might charge what it costs to make the cupcakes, plus a little per cupcake (maybe 25-50 cents, depending on how complicated the decorating is) for this specific job, or let her buy the ingredients, and charge a flat fee for the baking and decorating (maybe $5-7 per dozen?). But I'd also let it be known that it's a one-time deal, and if you were to continue baking for her, you'd be charging more (maybe print out a price list for her for future reference?).

[avid]

I agree with ya pras.

hey kim - being from the south and all have you considered red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing? seems to be riding a real wave of popularity right now.

[K8memphis]

Someone Mr. Kim works with is going to ask me about making her some cupcakes.  I am not a pro and would be doing someone a favor, but I wouldn't mind making a little money also.  What range makes sense for a home cook to charge for cupcakes?  I am in Richmond, VA, if that helps!

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Just in the sense of playing fair, I think you should not charge less than the lowest priced bakery in the area, say $1.50 each for an example. Start there or higher. So you should really call around. If you low ball your initial order, it is very difficult to raise your price for a second order. I suggest starting out on the right foot.

I mean no lower than the grocery store bakery either. You product will of course be much different than the grocery store cupcake, but it should not be lower priced.

I understand that you are not setting out to bake for the masses. But I have over thirty years experience in & out of bakeries, etc. and my own home business. Hey, if you feel you must underprice, at least write up a legitimate sales slip with the $1.50 on there, then give a 10% discount or whatever. And do all the math so it can be seen so when you need to raise prices all you do is discontinue the 'grand opening special' discounts.

But it's better to just price them outright where they ought to be priced. You are a pro if someone is paying you. So be a pro!

[StephMac]

Well, a lot depends on what they want - are they looking for cupcakes topped with a dollop of icing and some sprinkles? or iced flat with an initial or monogram on top? or a little flower on top? or a BIG flower on top?

Or do they want a different detailed, multi-colored animal face on each cupcake, designed to exactly match the jungle animals on Lil' Snookums' first birthday invitation?

More detail will probably mean you'll spend more time and effort on the cupcakes. My advice: Don't forget to factor in a price for your time when you're adding up the amount spent on ingredients, cupcake liners, extra supplies, etc!

[Kim Shook]

God, you guys are great! Well, I told her that I would charge her $2 per cupcake when I talked to her this morning. She understands that I was really talking off the top of my head and that I hadn't really priced out my costs. So anyway, I have my first 'job' and I am pretty thrilled about those 12 cupcakes that I'll be making next week! Thank you all for your input!

[CanadianBakin']

I usually figure out the cost of ingredients and times by 4. Subtract the cost from this number and divide by the number of hours you think it will take. Are you willing to work for this amount of money? If not, you'll have to adjust your price. Obviously the local pricing factors in here as well. As K8 said you don't want to be lower.

For example, Rebecca mentioned she thought it cost about 80 cents a cupcake.

0.80 x say 36 cupcakes = $28.80 x 4(mark up)= $115.20 minus $28.80(cost) =$86.40

$86.40 divided by say 4 hours (you're not a pro and it'll take longer than you think) = $21.60/hour.

I'd be happy to work for that hourly wage but to me that looks like too much so I'd actually reduce the price accordingly. In all honesty I don't think the cost is 80 cents per cupcake but you get the idea.

This is very simplistic but as someone who only does baking on the side this seems to work for me. I aim for $15/hour of actual working time. You have to remember though that there's usually research involved, possibly practice runs, the occasional flopped batch, shopping for ingredients, gas, electricity, washing up, pan spray, muffin liners, etc, etc. It all adds up. In this situation you'll want to be careful about your price but for future jobs, quote what you need to. My husband has always told me to quote what is profitable. If I don't get the job, it's not that big of a deal. Unless I've chosen to donate time I don't want to work for free. Using this philosophy I've actually never lost a job even though I know they can get it cheaper elsewhere. I'm not a pro but I use real ingredients and what I make tastes good. There aren't a whole lot of options for good baking where I live.

Hope this helps.

Edited August 24, 2006 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[etalanian]

It's really hard to use that kind of formula when you are only making 12 cupcakes. If she is happy with $2, and you are in the ball park of high quality cupcakes in your market area, AND you feel comfortable with that price, then go for it. (If you start making cupcakes for more people, there will be economies of scale, and you will be making more for your time charging the same price.)

But remember what K8 said - and it's true - it's hard to raise your price later. Even if you make it clear that it's a special price, she'll still want the lower price next time.

Don't give your product away. Respect yourself.

Eileen

[K8memphis]

God, you guys are great!  Well, I told her that I would charge her $2 per cupcake when I talked to her this morning.  She understands that I was really talking off the top of my head and that I hadn't really priced out my costs.  So anyway, I have my first 'job' and I am pretty thrilled about those 12 cupcakes that I'll be making next week!  Thank you all for your input!

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Oh Kim, you're doing great. I'm happy for you. Great pricing!

[grenouille]

I have a school fundraiser bake sale to do in ten days ... review of the forums seems to make clear that cupcakes are a big hit with the elementary school crowd. But how do you wrap cupcakes (individually or in small for sale packages) so the frosting won't smear all over the inside of the wrapper?

so much chocolate ... so little time

[jgm]

First, I would let the frosting dry as much as it's going to.

Then I would use a large piece of plastic wrap or cellophane, place the cupcake on it, gather it up, and tie with a ribbon as far above the cupcake as I could. You're still going to get some smearing.

Another idea is to take a tip from grocery store bakeries, and put them in the rigid see-through containers, like those used at the salad bar. If you ate at the salad bar several times between now and the sale. . . and used a different container for every ingredient. . . you might have enough. Or maybe the grocery will sell you a few containers. You could also look at a local cake decorating shop or section in a crafts store, and see what they have.

[sanrensho]

Then I would use a large piece of plastic wrap or cellophane, place the cupcake on it, gather it up, and tie with a ribbon as far above the cupcake as I could.  You're still going to get some smearing.

I would suggest the same (using cellophane) but placing the cupcakes on a paper plate to further protect the cupcakes. Although it does create more waste.

Is there any way you can have the cupcakes arranged artfully on a plate, than bagged/packaged to order? That's the way mine were sold at our last bake sale. This would preserve the look of your cupcakes up to the crucial sell point. Then you could dispense with the extra paper plate.

Edited September 11, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[grenouille]

Maybe there's a sturdier frosting one could use? I usually don't use anything except buttercream or cooked frostings, but I'm not speedy enough to get cooked frostings spread over an entire batch of cupcakes before the frosting congeals. And buttercream, as you can tell from my whining, doesn't wrap well no matter how long it has to dry.

[maggiethecat]

Toothpicks. Insert toothpicks into a few of your cupcakes and it will prevent the plastic wrap smush.

[etalanian]

Or make a chocolate ganache and/or a white chocolate ganache, dip each of the cupcake tops upside down into your choice of melted ganache, turn them upright quickly, after a few minutes shake some sprinkles over them to make them look festive, and let them sit until they harden. They travel much better that way than a fussily (is that even a word??) frosted cupcake, and can be wrapped with less concern.

Eileen

[grenouille]

Or make a chocolate ganache and/or a white chocolate ganache, dip each of the cupcake tops upside down into your choice of melted ganache, turn them upright quickly, after a few minutes shake some sprinkles over them to make them look festive, and let them sit until they harden. They travel much better that way than a fussily (is that even a word??) frosted cupcake, and can be wrapped with less concern.

Eileen

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Ganache! Eureka! I hadn't even thought of it (one seldom thinks of five-year-olds and ganache at the same time). But that would be perfect.

[Fat Guy]

The pint-sized plastic deli containers are a great solution -- the pastry shop near me on Madison Avenue uses them. The trick is to invert the containers -- in other words place the base of the cupcake on the inverted lid and cover with the container. Use a small bit of icing or other sticky, natural product to secure the cupcake to the lid so it won't slide around too much.

[ComeUndone]

My choice packaging idea is to use disposable clear plastic cups. Place cupcake on a mini round cake board (those gold ones are lovely but in a pinch, small round coasters work great) and cover it with the inverted cup. Tape cup to cardboard round and you have a sturdy and gorgeous cake dome.

So not environmentally friendly but it is highly portable.